targeted online marketing is planned for
the future, especially to those already
members of Facebook, or as Craddock refers to them, “the low-hanging fruit.” As
he points out, Visa knows it can target,
at the very least, the 80,000 businesses
already on Facebook. “We want to reach
the personal profile page as well so, we’re
going to do traditional banner ads and
also social advertising in news feeds and
on personal pages,” he says.

Initial concerns included the idea
that the demographics of an online social
community were skewed too young to be
effective for VBN membership. But after
research, Visa found that more than 50
percent of Facebook users are over the
age of 36. “This surprised us. But it shows
how much it [Facebook] has evolved and
changed so quickly,” says Craddock. “It’s
the place where everybody is existing, regardless of age or where they are.”

Who are the community’s members?
The companies on VBN are located

across the United States, with clusters
around the major metropolitan areas.
And although the companies have broad
industry coverage, two key verticals are
business services and telecommunications
and technology.

Looking toward the future, Visa plans
to continue to expand its relationship
with Facebook and perhaps, more importantly, looks to create a better way to
engage in dialogue with small businesses
in real time. When the time is right, Visa
plans to extend the network by creating
additional functionalities; adding content; and partnering with more third parties — such as banks and merchants. And
Craddock hopes that the new functions
will be dialogue-driven by the small business owners themselves.

“Whatever helps them succeed is what
we’re focused on,” he says. “We need to
have an open mind and it will evolve in
line with where small business is going
and community is going.”

Although no marketing has been
conducted yet outside of the United
States (but will be done once the community is well established in America),
the online network has already seen some
international interest. “That’s the nature
of Facebook and the Internet — once
you put it out there, it will be found,” says
Craddock.

And with the way the economy is
looking, and the concerns of small business owners, Craddock sees the VBN as
reinvigorating. “That’s where the network
is hitting a sweet spot. They’re saying if
I’m going to fight through the downturn
and continue to grow, then I need to
look at doing things differently,” he says.
“We’re excited about what Visa is doing;
it’s opening up a new way to market. It
makes us think differently about how
we’re conducting our marketing and our
business. It’s good timing because it ads
value and it can only add more value in a
good economy.”